The unemployment rate inched up a tenth of a percent in March to a preliminary rate of 4.3% in Humboldt County, according to figures released by the Employment Development Department on Friday.

February’s revised rate was 4.2% in Humboldt County; last March the rate was at a “record low” of 3.9%.

“The increase in the unemployment is pretty typical for this time of year,” said Randy Weaver, a local labor market consultant. “First quarter is when we see one of the peaks in unemployment. It’s interesting that it’s up from the year past. It’s not up much, but it’s definitely something we want to keep an eye on.”

Humboldt County remains below the state’s March rate of 4.6% but higher than the national March rate of 3.9%.

Across the county, there are about 1,000 more people employed than were a year ago. The March 2019 data shows 61,200 employed individuals compared with 60,200 in March 2018. Additionally, the number of unemployed is also up by around 300 from 2,400 in March 2018 to 2,700 this March.

“Our labor force has grown a little bit and that’s good news,” he said. “Our employment is growing slowly. … There’s only a few thousand people out there of active job seekers. The labor pool is pretty small. A lot of people seeking employment can find employment.”

Weaver said that Humboldt County is still in a good position, ranked 16th in the state for unemployment, something that is considerably better than surrounding counties.

“That’s really good when you think about it,” said Weaver. “We’re up there with a lot of counties that have much larger economies and much bigger populations and we manage to hold our own. Humboldt County is the economic driver (in this area). We tend to have larger economic rates. We are more urbanized than Trinity or Del Norte (counties).”

Del Norte County’s unemployment rate in March was 6.4%, ranking them 34th and Trinity County’s March rate was 8.1% putting them at 43rd in the state.

The state has seen 108 months of economic expansion.

But Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at the SS Economics consulting firm, warned that “aches and pains associated with the aging economic recovery process are beginning to show up.”

He primarily blamed labor shortages aggravated by the high cost of housing and doing business in the state.

“The state could be running out of potential new workers,” he said in an email. On the upside, lower mortgage rates and an easing of foreign trade tensions could spur continued economic growth.

The construction sector has gained steadily since 2010 and had the largest increase of 9,400 jobs last month, driven by good weather and lower interest rates on housing.

It was one of nine sectors that together added more than 30,000 jobs in California in March. The others were professional and business services, manufacturing, educational and health services, information, other services, leisure and hospitality, government, and mining and logging.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ruth Schneider can be reached at 707-441-0520.